Rotary engine.



Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

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G. F. MOORS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 2s, 1912.

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G. F. MOORS.

ROTARY ENGINE. -APPLIGATION FILED AUG. z3, 1912.

Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

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GEORGE F. MOOR/S, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

Application filed August 23, 1912. Serial No. 716,633.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, GEORGE F. Moons, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilto-n and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part. of this specification.

My invention relates to a rotary engine of the type in which a piston in the form of an eccentric is surrounded by a ring to which an abutment is secured, the present invention being an improvement on the rotary engine-shown in U. S. Patent No. 958,885, issued to me May 24, 1910, and U. S. Patent No. 1,029,941, issued to me June 18, 1912.

The object of this invention is to generally improve the structure shown in my prior patents so as to utilize the pressure and expansive force of the actuating fiuid to best advantage, prevent leakage of said fluid, and produce a very simple rotary engine having other desirable features not present in the old structure.

Figure I is a vertical section, partly in elevation, of an engine embodying the features of this invention. Fig. Il is a hori- Zontal section. Fig. Hl is a detail section showing the packing ring. Fig. lV is a perspective view of a contractible raceway member utilized in the piston. Fig. V is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the means for connecting the eccentric to the valve cranks. Fig. Vl is a detail view of a presser plate for compressing packing at the end of the abutment.

ln the accompanying drawings: A designates a cylinder provided with an inlet port 1 at the left hand, and an exhaustport 2 at the right hand.

3 is a power shaft passing through the center of the cylinder and secured to which is a fly wheel 4.

The piston B comprises an eccentric 5 secured to the power shaft 3, a ring 6 surrounding said eccentric, and antifriction rollers 7 between said ring and eccentric.

An abutment 8, arranged in an abutment chamber 9, is pivoted to the right hand of the cylinder at 10. The piston ring 6 is recessed to conform to the inwardly curved shape of bearing surfaces at the free end of the abutment; and a pivotal connection between said piston ring and abutment is formed by a cylindrical head 11 occupying a circular recess in the piston ring between the recesses for the bearing surface and connected to the abutment by a bolt 12.

During the operation of the engine, steam, or other fluid, under pressure enters the upper left hand portion of the cylinder, (Fig. 1,) and is exhausted at the upper right hand portion of the cylinder. The fluid under pressure cannot escape at the left hand end of the abutment 8, and it therefore causes the piston ring 6 to move downwardly from the position seen in Fig. I and carry with it the abutment 8. rllhis downward movement of the piston ring 6 causes the eccentric 5 to rotate until said ring engages the lowermost point in the cylinder, and as the pressure continues, the piston ring moves to the right and upwardly, causing the eccentric 5 to cont-inue its rotary movement. lt should be noted that the piston ring 6 does not rotate, but partakes of a rocking movement, and is always in contact with some point on the cylinder wall. However, the movement of the piston ring causes the eccentric 5 to rotate and impart a rotary movement to the power shaft 3.

The eccentric 5 has an elongated opening to receive a square portion of the power shaft, a filler block 13 having an inclined face and seated against the power shaft, and a wedge 14, the latter having a threaded neck which passes through a washer 15. The wedge 14 may be moved along the inclined face of the filler block 13 by adjusting the nut 16, and this adjustment will cause the eccentric to firmly engage the power shaft. To insure the proper contact between the piston ring 6 and the cylinder, a small filler plate 17 of the required thickness is preferably interposed between the power shaft and the eccentric 5.

The eccentric 5 is preferably surrounded by a hard steel band 18 forming an inner raceway member for the antifriction rollers 7, said band being secured to the eccentric by a pin 19. The rollers are also surrounded by an outer raceway member 20, forming a lining for the piston ring 6. This outer raceway member 20 is a contractible ring having inclined end edges separated from each other, as seen in Fig. IV. The outer raceway member 20 may be contracted to t within the piston ring by inserting a suitable tool into the openings 21, (Fig. 1V) and forcing the inclined edges 22 toward each other.

The rollers 7 are confined in a cage consisting of rings 27 connected by rods 2S. rl`his roller cage overlaps the inner' raceway member 18 at one side of the piston and overlaps the outer raceway member 2O at the opposite side of the pisto-n. It will be noted that the rings 27 at the side of the roller cage are prevented from shifting laterally by the members 18 and 20, respectively, and the cage is therefore always retained in its proper position.

To prevent the escape of fluid under pressure at the free end of the abutment 8, packing 23 is arranged between the end wall o f the abutment housing, and the abutment and this packing may be compressed through the medium of a presser plate Q4 located in said housing, and adapted to be adjusted by one or more screws 25. rlhese adjusting screws pass through the abutment housing, and may be operated from the ein terior thereof. The presser plate 24 is held in position by a bolt 26 passing through a slot in the presser plate, (Figs. l and Vl.)

A very important feature of this invention is the spring packing rings 30 arranged between the flat side faces of the piston and cylinder, and fo-rced against the cylinder by their inherent spring power. rlhe flat side faces of the piston are provided with circular grooves adapted to receive the spring rings 30, and each groove has a beveled outer wall 31 and an outer abutment face 32. The spring rings conform to the shape of the grooves, and said rings must be contracted in diameter to lit into the grooves. 1n assembling the piston parts, the rings 30 are forced into the grooves, and by their inherent spring power, they expand and engage the abutment face 32, as seen in Fig. lll. lhen the piston is arranged in the cylinder, the spring rings 30 are forced inwardly along the inclined faces 31; but as they tend to'expand, said rings tend to ride outwardly on the inclined faces and always firmly engage the piston and cylinder, thereby preventing the passage of fluid around the flat side faces of the piston.

33 designates an inlet valve, (Fig. 1,) for opening and closing the inlet port 1, and 34 is an outlet valve for controlling the eX- haust port 2. The inlet valve 33 has a stem to which a valve Acrank 36 is secured, and the outlet valve is secured to a similar crank 37. rlhe means for rocking the valves comprises an eccentric 3,8 secured to the power shaft 3 and sur-rounded by an eccentric strap 39. This eccentric strap is secured to the crank 36 by a rigid connecting rod 40, and loosely connected to the crank 37 by a rod 4 1, the latter being pivoted to the eccentric strap at 42. It will be understood that .only one eccentric is required to operate both valves, and this is due to the fact that a single eccentric connected to both valves, as just described, will perform the functions of the two eccentrics usually 70 employed to operate the valves.

Steam, or other fluid, is delivered to the engine through an inlet pipe 43, and eX- hausted through a pipe 44.

45 is a throttle valve for opening and 75 closing the inlet pipe.

To either stop the engine suddenly upon the closing of the throttle valve, or permit it to run for a brief period under the momentum acquired, I provide a by-pass 46 8O between the inlet and exhaust pipes, said by-pass being composed of fluid conducto-rs, including a globe valve housing 47, and a check valve housing 48. `When the globe valve is closed, the engine will stop suddenly S5 upon the closing of the throttle valve 45, this being due to the fact that a continued operation of the engine will create a partial vacuum in the inlet pipe, and this vacuum will prevent or retard the operation of the 9@ piston. However, if the globe valve 47 is open when the throttle valve is closed, the piston will suck fluid from the exhaustl pipe through the by-pass 46, and run freely for a brief period after the throttle valve 45 is closed.

When the rollers 7 and raceway members 18 and 20 become worn, a readjustment of these parts may be very easily obtained by contracting the rabeway member 20 and'loo placing a thin sheet of metal, or other suitable material, between said member `20 and the inner face of the piston ring 6.

rlhe top wall of the abutment housing is larovided with a threaded plug 50 which 105 may be removed to permit the nuts on bolt 12 to be adjusted without disturbing the packing devices at the end of the abutment.

'lhe operation of the exhaust valve may be timed to utilize the fluid in the cylinder as a cushion while the 1piston is in contact with the cylinder wall at points between the inlet and exhaust ports. This will prevent vibration of thc` piston and abutment, thereby r-eleasing these parts of shocks which would otherwise occur at the end of each power stroke.

lt will be noted that end thrusts on the power shaft will not cause the piston to bind against the cylinder walls because the shaft is separate from the piston and is free to partake of a limited sliding mo-vement in the piston.

Particular attention is directed to the relative dimensions of the piston and cylinder. 1'25 This involves an important feature which makes the engine a decided improvement on the engine shown in my prior Patent No. 958,885. The piston B is only slightly smaller in diameter than the cylinder A;

hence, only a very small volume of steam is permitted to pass through the cylinder during each revolution of the piston eccentric. It will be understood that the pressure of the small volume of steam on the piston is as effective as the pressure derived from a larger volume of steam, the power being determined by the degree of pressure and the pisto-n area exposed to such pressure. This engine compared to the engine shown in my prior patent will therefore require considerably less fuel and steam to furnish a given degree of power, and this economy of operation is mainly due to the small steam space in the cylinder. To provide a pivotal connection between the abutment and piston ring and at the same time maintain the small steam space referred to, I locate the pivotal point within the circumference of the piston ring, as shown in F ig. I.

I claim 1. In a rotary engine, a cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports, supply and exhaust pipes communicating with said ports, a throttle valve in said supply pipe, a uid conductor forming a by-pass between said supply and exhaust pipes, said by-pass being in communication with the supply pipe at a point between said throttle valve and said inlet port, and a valve in said by-pass for preventing the iiuid in the supply pipe from flowing through said by-pass.

2. In a rotary engine, a cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports, supply and exhaust pipes communicating with said ports, a throttle valve in said supply pipe, a fluid conductor forming a by-pass between said supply and exhaust pipes, said by-pass being in communicating with the supply pipe at a point between said throttle valve and said inlet port, a check valve in said by-pass for preventing the fluid in the supply pipe from iiowing through said by-pass, and a valve for closing said by-pass to prevent fluid from passing therethrough in either direction.

3. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, and a piston in said cylinder, the said piston comprising an eccentric, a ring surrounding said eccentric, antifriction rollers between said eccentric and ring, a contractible circular raceway member forming a lining for said ring, said raceway member having inclined end edges separated from each other and also having perforations for the reception of a device whereby the raceway members may be contracted to permit its removal from said ring.

4L. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, an abutment housing, an abutment arranged in said housing and connected with the piston so as to oscillate in response to movements of said piston, packing between said abutment and a wall of said abutment housing, a presser plate in said housing for compressing said packing, and a means for adjusting said presser plate operable from the exterior of said housing.

5. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, an abutment housing, an abutment arranged in said housing and connected with the piston so as to oscillate in response to movements of said piston, packing between said abutment and a wall of said abutment housing, a presser plate in said housing for compressing said packing; said presser plate being formed with a slot, a bolt passing through said slot connecting the presser plate t0 said housing, and a screw for adjusting said presser plate passing through said housing.

6. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a power shaft, a filler block having a plain inner face seated on said power shaft and also having an inclined outer face, a wedge tted to the piston and movable along the inclined outer face of said filler block, a threaded neck extending from said wedge, and a nut on said threaded neck for adjusting said wedge to firmly engage the piston with the power shaft.

7 In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, said piston comprising a ring only slightly smaller in diameter than the interior of said cylinder, the said ring having a recess in its peripheral face for the reception of a pivot head, and an abutment having a pivot head which lies within said recess, the axis of said Pivot head being 10- cated within the circumference of said ring.

GEORGE F. MOORS.

In the presence of- W. W. SYMMns, O. E. FAUGHT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

